Man Who Drove SUV Onto Runway At PHL Gets 16 Months In Prison

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — The 24-year-old Chadds Ford, Pa. man who crashed onto the grounds of Philadelphia International airport last March, causing near disaster (see related story), has been sentenced to 16 months in prison.

Kenneth Mazik, who admitted he drove down active runways, causing planes to be diverted (another related story), today told the federal court he’s so thankful that no one was hurt.

“I would like to start with an apology to everybody I affected on March 1st,” he said today. And he continued, “To put those lives in danger is unspeakable, and I accept that I deserve punishment for that.”

And while acknowledging that Mazik was delusional and hallucinating that day, Judge Mitchell Goldberg found the prison sentence was appropriate, telling Mazik he is lucky because, but for a couple of minutes or seconds, this could have been a disaster of the hugest proportions and he would be facing jail for the rest of his life.